Have you tried any fruit recipes from other mixers rather then throwing some random stuff together? And also mixing different brands together? Any reason why that example recipe is all CAP?

I definitely would not recommend using anywhere close to 5% sweetener. That's pretty crazy.

Its always a matter of finding the best flavors for the job.

Are you single flavor testing all these flavors? A lot of times recipes that seem good on paper based on what's on the flavor bottle are anything but, you gotta understand what works with what to bring out certain notes. Go on ATF and search for recipes with the flavors you used, check out what percentages others are using and what other flavors they're throwing in fruit mixes. Experienced mixers will use unexpected flavors in small amounts to highlight the main flavors and complement the overall taste. Things like Dragonfruit, Lemon Sicily, and Cactus can do wonderful things. Once you get familiar with these complementary flavors by browsing and mixing others' recipes then you can start experimenting with them on your own.

I’ve made over 150 recipes for the consumer market. The most popular flavors I’ve sold were the most simple. In fact, even fellow manufacturers were making money hand over fist selling 1-2 ingredient liquids.

Pick 1-3 flavors. Keep the total % below 20%. Add 1% super sweet to everything. The end.

It really is that simple. Keep in mind that steeping is real.

Stick to 0.5-1% sweetener, even if it seems off you'll get used to it. There's certain flavors that add a "juiciness" to fruit mixes and IMO they're pretty necessary. My favorites are Inawera Cactus, Flavor Art Pear, and Flavor Art Fuji Apple. 1-2% of one of those flavors really pulls a fruit mix together. Also spend some time researching which flavors taste like what (reviews on here should be pretty helpful, or check the notes on recipe sites). Different brands will give you different notes of a certain fruit, it'll be easier to mix what you want if you have an idea of what it's gonna taste like beforehand

As others have stated it's all about learning how to use your flavors and experimenting, my first month of DIY was fairly similar but the more I did it and read over recipes I was able to understand better how to utilize the flavors I have, personally I very rarely use sweetners and find with many flavors they aren't needed.

One of my ADV for example which I call Tropic Thunder is 5% TPA Papaya, 4% TPA Strawberry (Ripe), 3% TPA Dragonfruit and 2% TPA Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. The VBIC helps to bring out the sweetness of the fruits and the Dragonfruit is always useful to accentuate the flavors of fruits like Strawberry so it really has no need for extra sweetener and this was one of the many I just came up with while making 10ml testers one day that became one of my favorites.

What I noticed about your example recipe is that there isn't much of a consistent type of fruit taste. What I would recommend doing is finding out what fruits will combine easily (2-3) and then use very small amounts of other flavors to accentuate those. Spend more time experimenting. Definitely get yourself cactus, dragonfruit, and fuji apple as recommended by the other commenters. Those work great to help enhance the main flavors. I've gotten used to the sweetness of my own juice so now when I try store bought juice it tastes pretty bad, like nothing but sweet.

Thanks for the helpful tips everyone ! What everyone is saying makes sense. It has been fun trying different combinations and learning about each flavor on its own. I will keep at it and use these suggestions!

I've been having the same issue, the place I use to buy all my juices from claim to not use any sweetner. I can just never get my juices as strong in flavor, even following recipes.

Maybe your so used to the sweetener in commercial juice that you can't taste anything. Could try vaping unjuice to reset your buds? Worked for me. You can find the unjuice recipe on ATF

I’ve made something pretty close to that recipe when I first started vaping and it came out pretty good! Not my fave, but still, it was flavorful. Only difference is mine had sweet mango instead of the mango orange and then later versions I added .5 INW Cactus which really makes the fruits pop and gives it a “wetter” feel.

Edit: also flavors aren’t really going to cause dry hits. Im thinking maybe you are using more VG than the juices you were vaping. Rule of thumb is 70/30 for drippers and sub-ohms and 50/50 for pods.

I have the Falcon as well and all my juices vape just fine in it but I never go higher than 70/30. But if in doubt try lowering the VG a bit.

CAP fruit flavors are far from the best! Have you read any of the flavor reviews from the sidebar? Strawberry for example-INW Shisha Strawberry(2-3%) is one of the better ones, as well as FJ Ultimate strawberry(3-4%) and FJ Sweet strawberry(3-4%), and many others. That CAP pineapple isnt good at all IMO, at least not without some help from other brands of pineapple. INW has a really good one INW Pineapple(4%) and VT Sugarloaf Pineapple(2%). As far as Mango FA Indian Mango is one good one, CAP's Sweet mango(3-4%) is pretty good. CAP Raspberry V2(4-5%) is better than the first one, and some people like TFA Raspberry Sweet. I personally like FA Raspberry (2%) Anyway, there is a bunch of info about flavors here on this sub. Read and learn! If you want to be a mixer, you have to learn about flavors. Look at recipes on ATF ( All the Flavors) and see what flavors people are using for their recipes. There are thousands on that site. Anyway, I hope this helps you. Have fun with it!

What vg/pg are you using? That can impact flavour and saturation